Early Return
by localsportsteam
Summary: Anna always hoped Kristoff would come back from ice harvesting early, but several wishes could be granted when he returns before sunset with a very small velvet box.


She worried for him, of course she did. She tried to keep it to herself, not burden Kristoff with her fretting, but she couldn't bottle it all up and it spilled over in tears rolling down her cheeks. He noticed it in her, when she twisted her wedding band around her finger, when she bit her lip, when she took out and re-did her braids, over and over again. But he too did not bring it up.

Anna had seen ice harvesters carried back, blue as a spring sky, cold as irony. They stepped too quickly, too firmly, crashed through the ice and perished before they could be dragged out – if they were dragged out at all.

"Anna, you're going to follow me halfway up the mountain." Kristoff chuckled uncomfortably one morning before he headed out.

Anna had woken up with him, kissed him goodbye. Followed him to the grand entrance. Kissed him goodbye. Watched him saddle up Sven. Kissed him goodbye. Now Kristoff had loaded up the sleigh with everything for the harvesting trip, and it was time to go. Anna kissed him goodbye.

"Kristoff, just promise me you'll be careful."

"Of course!" Kristoff said, throwing the last of his supplies into the back of the sled. He looked Anna in the eye and saw the fear brewing within her, causing him to take her hand and speak with more sincerity. "Of _course_." He squeezed her hands. "Anna I never take any unnecessary risks."

"But what about the necessary ones? Like, I don't know, being near the ice?" Anna fretted.

"I've done this for years, Anna. I know what thin ice looks like. And thick ice – the stuff I'm around – is perfectly fine and strong enough to hold me."

"But I've seen men coming back all the time with frostbite! Injuries! If the ice doesn't pose enough risk, then you're surrounded by saws and axes and knives and big animals, and other men with saws and axes and knives and-"

"And we're all very good at our jobs. We can make mistakes and-"

"Mistakes? Kristoff in the three years that I've known you, four men have _died_. Those aren't just mistakes, those are tragedies! Frostbite is terrible enough, but I'd rather they come back with that than not at all!"

"What's so special about today?" Kristoff asked. "You never seem happy when I leave or anything, but today you're especially distressed. Did something happen? I've never gotten hurt before."

This wasn't entirely true, of course. Kristoff had had his feet stepped on by the other men's horses and reindeer a few times, he had been nicked with his own and other's saws, leaving a few scars on his hands and lower arms. His muscles would always be strained with the work, he'd be bruised from the lifting, and his feet would grow numb at the end of the day. He would always get hurt, but he'd be rejuvenated. Happy. And Anna couldn't take that away from him.

"No, well, yes, I mean, I'm always worried for you, of course, but I don't like the looks of the sky and I feel like a storm is going to hit and If you have to go please at least come home early!"

"I can't promise that, Anna. There's work to be done." Kristoff said, biting his lip. She just looked so nervous, so sad, he couldn't bear to see her that way. "I'll try." He promised. "The men should understand."

"_Please_, Kristoff."

"Okay, I'll be back early. Promise."

Anna felt a twinge of guilt, but it was quickly washed out by relief. "Thank you." She smiled, kissing him goodbye.

…

It was nearing four 'o' clock, and Kristoff knew it'd take him about an hour to get home. Supper was served around five, and Anna, being Anna, changed for it around 4:58. If he was waiting in her room before then, she'd have to run into him.

So he bid the men goodbye for the day, and they teased him about 'running home to his girl', but ultimately he was happy to have such a girl to run home to. He packed up his supplies (that had not hurt him in the slightest that day. Why, he had but a bit of muscle soreness and a little bit of foot numbness, but nothing that a nice bath and a hug from Anna couldn't fix), loaded them onto his sled, and hitched up Sven.

He would have to sneak into the castle, he didn't want Anna to catch him until he was ready. It was an easy trip home, it started snowing lightly towards the end, but he had been in far worse storms and this, if anything, just made the trip prettier.

He initially went to hitch Sven up in the barn, but stalled. With his luck, Anna would go out to the barn at some point and figure out that he was back.

"It'll just be an hour, buddy. As soon as I do it, I'll get you back home properly." Kristoff promised, rubbing Sven's nose.

Sven blew breath out of his nose and rolled his eyes, but allowed Kristoff to lead him to a smaller shack on the west end of the castle.

"Just an hour." Kristoff insisted again, closing the door all but a crack and rushing inside through the south entrance.

He went into Anna's room. It was just as messy as ever, with dresses and ribbons scattered around and throughout. Kristoff tidied up a little, just for the sake of the moment. He had brought some candles with him up to the mountains, and took them out now.

It was about ten to five, according to the clock on the wall. Anna would be up here any minute. He turned the box in his hand over and over, rubbing his thumb over the velvet surface. He opened the box, and exhaled shakily. He didn't want to wait. He was ready.

…

It was ten to five, and way past 'early'. Early was when the sun was still up, early was two, maybe three if he was running a bit late. And Kristoff had promised her – he never broke his promises! Something had happened, she was sure of it.

She told Elsa she'd be missing supper, and headed out into the lightly falling snow, wrapping a cape around herself. She went into the barn and looked into Sven's stall based on pure instinct. He wasn't there – which meant Kristoff wasn't there either.

Now firmer in her resolve, she saddled up her horse and rode up the mountain. It was an easy trip – the storm she feared had not hit yet. It took a little over an hour for her to get up there, and she spun her head around constantly, hoping to catch a peak of Kristoff coming down the mountain – late, but alive. She saw none.

When she got to the ice harvesting site, she called out his name. The men were far down on the other side of the lake, and did not even hear her call. She tried again 'Kristoff! Kristoff! Kristoff, can you hear me?'. There was no response from any of the men, so Anna knew _she_ had to go to _them_. Chunks of the ice were cut out, but the path around them must have been safe, as they had to stand there to cut it, right?

Anna placed one tentative foot on the ice, slowly allowing more of her weight to rest on the frozen water. She paused and exhaled. Good, it was safe. She shuffled forward in the same pattern, testing the ice and growing more confident. When she was about 50 feet across the lake, she called out again 'Kristoff!', but, again, there was no response.

She kept going, the men were still pretty far away. Another ten feet, another twenty feet, another step. 'Kristoff!' she called out again, and this time a man looked up, and because of his sharp hearing was graced with the honor of being the very last one to see the princess alive, as the ice broke from beneath her and she slipped through.

…

It had been three years since he saw her like that. The men were able to fish her out, with considerable effort, but they knew it was not an option to _leave_ her there. She was tinged blue and stiffly posed, brought back in the back of a sled like a bag of supplies or a block of ice.

Condolences were mumbled by the ice harvesters, none of whom really seemed to know what to do – how could they? For all the times someone had been lost there it was someone who truly knew the risk. A tragedy, of course, but a tragedy realized by a man who signed up for this life, who knew the options. Not a girlfriend stumbling across a sheet, screaming out for her lover.

Kristoff had waited until midnight for her. At first he thought that supper had been postponed, then that she just wasn't changing for supper, then that she was just going to bed later. But as the clock struck midnight, he knew something was wrong.

Thankfully, Elsa was up, and reacted instantly when he brought up his concerns. They alerted the guards, and their search was short. Around two am, the ice harvesters brought back the worst case scenario.

Kristoff's vision flashed in between how she looked three years ago, when she was frozen by Elsa, and looking at her in the back of that sled, eyes wide open and mouth puckered into a scream. She was so cold, and how could he thaw her? There was nothing magical about this.

"Whatever your choice is, we get it." One of the ice harvesters had clapped him on his shoulder, and Kristoff didn't understand quite what he meant by that at first.

He did understand for another month, when he returned to the mountains for the last time in order to toss Anna's engagement ring into the water, his stomach churning as the ice showed how quickly it sunk.


End file.
